LVA to launch €1m ‘Dublin Does Fridays’ promotion
Details were outlined at Bewley’s Hotel, Ballsbridge, recently, as part of what LVA Chairman Enda Keogh described as a “unique meeting in the history of the Dublin licensed trade” between the LVA and representatives of its 10 top suppliers: Britvic Ireland, Bulmers, Diageo, Edward Dillon, Gleeson Group, Heineken, IDL, Molson Coors, Richmond Marketing and Coca-Cola.
LVA Chief Executive Donall O’Keefe outlined the campaign elements to about 130 reps and trade press, encouraging those present at the meeting to go out and talk to other publicans about this initiative.
“We need your support in talking to trade,” he said, “It’s key”.
The dramatic change in both the economy and the on-trade between 2008 and 2010 led to the LVA taking a formal review of its approach to advertising last Spring. It had been running radio ads since 2005 and believed that the seven year-old campaign would benefit from a change of direction to a higher consumer focus.
A six-month review took onboard the views of suppliers via four major supply companies and an integrated marketing and communications process was agreed before reaching the new creative brief.
Behaviour & Attitudes conducted the research which identified an emerging weakness on Friday evening business and the LVA sought out “the best agencies in town”, incurring “very serious development fees” around a re-developed campaign which has been pre-tested on consumers to ensure feedback.
“Our research found that many groups felt that they didn’t start their weekend until Saturday mornings as Fridays ‘felt like a week-night’. That was scary!” he explained, “The campaign message from the LVA is, therefore, ‘After your busy week, start your weekend in a Dublin pub on a Friday night’.”
The campaign’s presence on Facebook will also help engage more with people in their 20s. A website, Dublindoesfridays.ie, is also being launched on 3rd February and it’s hoped that the new campaign (targeted at 25 to 44 year-olds) “will change our target audience’s behaviour to go to the pub more often on Fridays after work. ‘Friday’ applies to every pub large and small, central and suburban and to every brand of pub”.
Twelve ads of varying length are to be broadcast at various times and days of the week.
“We’re confident that it’s really going to engage the consumer,” he asserted, pointing out that outdoor poster ads would be made specific to certain areas of Dublin while the campaign itself will also encompass other media such as light projections onto the sides of certain pubs etc.
A social media strategy is also in place alongside Facebook, iPhone and android apps and even experiential – areas which the LVA admits it has been slow to move into in the past.
98FM’s Dermot & Dave will also host ‘Dublin Does Fridays’ live on Friday evenings and a sociability survey will be run with consumers in the middle of the campaign to bring credibility to the work publicans must do in setting up for Friday nights.
Overall Project Manager on the new campaign is ex-Diageo Ireland’s Valerie Rice.
